OK, the whole story is that this is from a famous Zen koan (a koan is the Buddhist equivalent of a parable, more or less). In the koan, a student asks a famous Zen master that question, and he answers, "No." The word for "no" in ancient Japanese (in which the story was originally told) is "Mu."

Virg

I had half a chance of figuring out the geeky science stumpers, but I absolutely draw the line at multilingual jokes in dead languages.

{sadly hands in geek cred card....}

Logged

"I think her scattergun was only loaded with commas and full-stops, although some of them cuddled together for warmth and produced little baby colons and semi-colons." ~ Margo

Actually the ones with adverbs are Tom Swifties ("We don't pray before meals in this house," she said gracelessly); the ones with verbs are "croakers," named after the prototypical "I'm dying," he croaked. These are some of mine:

Swifties:"I finished my apprenticeship," he said extraneously."Trump runs this place like some kind of Russian monarch," he said sardonically."That's one of those women from the teahouse," he said sagaciously."Your girlfriend, Teresa, is on the line," she said esoterically."His Honor is insane," he said judgmentally."I made those changes you wanted to the plans, sir," he said respectfully."The register is clogged with dog hair!" she said fervently."The appetizer choices are minestrone and tuna salad," he said superficially."I'll have the minestrone; I've given up seafood," she said officiously."My addiction to eBay will be the death of me," she said morbidly."Kenneth was like a brother to me," he said brokenly."My pen pal is in a French women's prison," he said laconically."I ate too much of that kangaroo steak," he said ruefully."I need a loaner while my wedding band is being repaired," she said despairingly."I charge by the stanza," he said perversely."This is my second trip to the bog," she said repeatedly."I gave him another loan, but it was smaller than the first one," he said relentlessly."We'll have our evening meal after the boat docks," she said supportively."My shift was canceled," she said unstintingly."I sentence the prisoner to death in the electric chair," he said concurrently."They got the patient's heart started again," he said repulsively."He may be a drunkard, but he's smart," she said quixotically."They hauled that former Kelly Girl before the judge," he said extemporaneously."Timothy can't control his impulses," she said timidly."I am NOT drunk; jusht watch me leave that Chryshler in the dusht," he said passionately."Edward, why don't you stop by and let me take your picture?" she said composedly."I've become a Rastafarian; what do you think of my hairdo?" he said dreadfully."You're asking for trouble if you camp in that ragged old thing," she said portentously."I'd have made the high honor roll except for that B in my 11th-period class," she said tenaciously."What is your wish, Master?" he said genially."Can't another masseuse work on that Steinem woman today?" she said miserably."I hoped you behaved yourself on 'Romper Room,' " she said dubiously.(N.B.: To get this one, you need to know Boston):"Everybody in the North End thinks that Garson woman was a lousy actress," he said disagreeably.

Croakers"It's a breath mint!" he asserted."This conifer specimen should be planted between trees N and P," he opined."Alabama, Alaska, California ..." he stated."I'd like to order an extra-supportive mattress," he affirmed."Can we make another search?" she requested."I'm filing for worker's compensation," he claimed."It's not quite good enough to receive an N," he orated." ... get it!" she commanded."I wasn't this attractive before the surgery," she explained."I did so make another cake!" she retorted."You have to understand the significance of the crow's call," he commented."I've given up my religion," he decreed."Ms. Bloom, Ms. Danes, you're both fired!" he declared."Let me tell you how I lost weight," she expounded."That lawn was planted with prison labor," he conceded."The prisoner holds the key to solving the mystery," he concluded."So what you're saying is, you want to wear your mink coat," he inferred."Someone wrecked my beautiful new Swedish car!" she sobbed."Hey, y'all, I'm down here! In this valley!" he hollered."The stool sample j-just slipped off the counter," she faltered."I love 'All Quiet on the Western Front,' " he remarked."Someday President Roosevelt will return from the dead," he theorized."The unknown in this equation is how many apples he swallowed whole," he excoriated.

OK, the whole story is that this is from a famous Zen koan (a koan is the Buddhist equivalent of a parable, more or less). In the koan, a student asks a famous Zen master that question, and he answers, "No." The word for "no" in ancient Japanese (in which the story was originally told) is "Mu."

Virg

Very esoteric! Dark Boyfriend appreciated it, though, and the small history lesson within.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Common sense is not a gift, but a curse. Because thenyou have to deal with all the people who don't have it. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Actually the ones with adverbs are Tom Swifties ("We don't pray before meals in this house," she said gracelessly); the ones with verbs are "croakers," named after the prototypical "I'm dying," he croaked. These are some of mine:

Swifties:"I finished my apprenticeship," he said extraneously."Trump runs this place like some kind of Russian monarch," he said sardonically."That's one of those women from the teahouse," he said sagaciously."Your girlfriend, Teresa, is on the line," she said esoterically."His Honor is insane," he said judgmentally."I made those changes you wanted to the plans, sir," he said respectfully."The register is clogged with dog hair!" she said fervently."The appetizer choices are minestrone and tuna salad," he said superficially."I'll have the minestrone; I've given up seafood," she said officiously."My addiction to eBay will be the death of me," she said morbidly."Kenneth was like a brother to me," he said brokenly."My pen pal is in a French women's prison," he said laconically."I ate too much of that kangaroo steak," he said ruefully."I need a loaner while my wedding band is being repaired," she said despairingly."I charge by the stanza," he said perversely."This is my second trip to the bog," she said repeatedly."I gave him another loan, but it was smaller than the first one," he said relentlessly."We'll have our evening meal after the boat docks," she said supportively."My shift was canceled," she said unstintingly."I sentence the prisoner to death in the electric chair," he said concurrently."They got the patient's heart started again," he said repulsively."He may be a drunkard, but he's smart," she said quixotically."They hauled that former Kelly Girl before the judge," he said extemporaneously."Timothy can't control his impulses," she said timidly."I am NOT drunk; jusht watch me leave that Chryshler in the dusht," he said passionately."Edward, why don't you stop by and let me take your picture?" she said composedly."I've become a Rastafarian; what do you think of my hairdo?" he said dreadfully."You're asking for trouble if you camp in that ragged old thing," she said portentously."I'd have made the high honor roll except for that B in my 11th-period class," she said tenaciously."What is your wish, Master?" he said genially."Can't another masseuse work on that Steinem woman today?" she said miserably."I hoped you behaved yourself on 'Romper Room,' " she said dubiously.(N.B.: To get this one, you need to know Boston):"Everybody in the North End thinks that Garson woman was a lousy actress," he said disagreeably.

Croakers"It's a breath mint!" he asserted."This conifer specimen should be planted between trees N and P," he opined."Alabama, Alaska, California ..." he stated."I'd like to order an extra-supportive mattress," he affirmed."Can we make another search?" she requested."I'm filing for worker's compensation," he claimed."It's not quite good enough to receive an N," he orated." ... get it!" she commanded."I wasn't this attractive before the surgery," she explained."I did so make another cake!" she retorted."You have to understand the significance of the crow's call," he commented."I've given up my religion," he decreed."Ms. Bloom, Ms. Danes, you're both fired!" he declared."Let me tell you how I lost weight," she expounded."That lawn was planted with prison labor," he conceded."The prisoner holds the key to solving the mystery," he concluded."So what you're saying is, you want to wear your mink coat," he inferred."Someone wrecked my beautiful new Swedish car!" she sobbed."Hey, y'all, I'm down here! In this valley!" he hollered."The stool sample j-just slipped off the counter," she faltered."I love 'All Quiet on the Western Front,' " he remarked."Someday President Roosevelt will return from the dead," he theorized."The unknown in this equation is how many apples he swallowed whole," he excoriated.

I got about half of these, LOL. Romper Room--dubiously and grades--tenaciously had me grinning!

Logged

"I don't mean to be rude", he began, in a tone that threatened rudeness in every syllable.

"I really like cartoons!" he said animatedly."I would love to finish putting together my monster, but I seem to be missing a part," he said absentmindedly."My girlfriend's trying out for the pep squad," he said cheerily."I have a package to deliver to Mr Michaels, c/o Saturday Night Live," he said forlornly.

"I really like cartoons!" he said animatedly."I would love to finish putting together my monster, but I seem to be missing a part," he said absentmindedly."My girlfriend's trying out for the pep squad," he said cheerily."I have a package to deliver to Mr Michaels, c/o Saturday Night Live," he said forlornly.